Cheika bristles at talk of independent selector and coaching revamp

Michael Cheika has pushed back at suggestions he appoint an independent selector or shake up his coaching staff but targeted more collaboration with his Super Rugby counterparts to help lift the Wallabies in the lead-up to next year's World Cup.

Cheika also revealed he delivered no technical information in his now-famous half-time address to the playing group in Argentina last week, and said a "lack of confidence" was to blame for the 31-7 deficit at the break.

Another perspective: Raelene Castle will ask Michael Cheika whether he would consider an independent selector for the rest of his time with the Wallabies. Credit:AAP

The Wallabies coach appeared on Fox Sports' program Kick and Chase on Wednesday night after a pre-recorded interview with Rugby Australia chief Raelene Castle, in which she canvassed the idea of an external selector to help the Wallabies coaches pick their squads and teams but left any talk of staffing changes up to Cheika.

"He runs the program, he leads the program, so at this stage he deserves the right to come to us [with a plan]," Castle said.

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Cheika pushed back at talk of a reshuffle, saying the Wallabies playing group and staff had talked about what had to change internally and that he wanted to give that time to "sink in and make a difference". He also defended his selection process, saying a selector role was news to him.

"No one’s spoken to me about that. I will say this though, I’m not just picking numbers out of a hat," he said.

"I take advice from coaches who’ve been in the job in the past ... In the last World Cup cycle I had a crew of five or six ex-coaches or players who were involved in helping me look at players during the season so that I could get an external view.

Connection: Michael Cheika says he has unwavering belief in the Wallabies playing group despite a tough season. Credit:AAP

"I’m always taking counsel on those things. I think more often than not we’re making the right calls."

Cheika and the Test team returned to Australia earlier this week after restoring a measure of dignity with a stunning 38-point second-half comeback in Salta.

"These lads are getting pretty heavily pilloried outside. You’ve got to be mentally tough, I get it, but when things don’t go your way straight away – it was 14-0 after five minutes –I would say a lot of thoughts were going through their head of lack of confidence," he said.

"There was no technical information [in the half-time address]. They know how to play. Like things in life, when you do lose confidence or you get blocked, it stops you from doing what you know. Your automatic system takes over and you get very narrow. What they just had to do was understand that this is personal, let’s do what we know how to do, do it as best we can, and see what happens."

The 45-34 victory potentially spared Cheika. Although there was no appetite to sack the Super Rugby and Heineken Cup-winning coach so close to the World Cup, the RA board would have had no option but to consider it had the 31-7 half-time scoreline blown out further in the Pumas' favour.

Castle praised Cheika for his skill at being able to get such a response from the group but said the obvious question was why was the team that far behind in the first place.

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"Michael’s got a contract through to the World Cup and a plan that he’s continued to work on to get through to that World Cup and make sure that the Wallabies are in a position to perform," she said.

"He’s the head coach and it’s his responsibility to put that plan together and he will be presenting that to the board.

"What is the plan? What is the plan to recognise that we can see improved performances?"

Cheika and RA high-performance boss Ben Whitaker are understood to have sent a proposal to the four Super Rugby franchises outlining plans to manage Wallabies players. That paper will form the basis of discussions when the franchise coaches meet with Cheika and Whitaker in Sydney in coming days.

"There’s no doubt that the more we can collaborate with Super Rugby – so that it’s a 12-month plan – in particular next year going into the World Cup with what we can deliver around fitness … that’s definitely something we can push for," Cheika said.

"This year we’ve had moments where we’ve tried to manage that but we haven’t been able to get a handle on it completely. But there’s a willingness from Super Rugby coaches that I speak with regularly to change and improve – we’re all meeting soon enough, I think this month – to get some of those things sorted. I’d say that’s the biggest thing."